Vintage High Times Scan: Coca Chewers of Santa Marta

This was scanned from the July 1979 issue of High Times Magazine. There are some real cool pictures in here. They used to have the coolest/most interesting stories around, and now the magazine is pretty much a joke.

Chariot of the Gods by Erich Von Daniken

http://www.scribd.com/doc/15864379/Von-Daniken-Chariots-of-the-Gods

This is the book that started a lot of the modern interest in Ancient Aliens. Available online in it's entirety.

Backtrack-The Roots of Evil

Saw them just recently, the material they played off the second EP was great, lots of kids moshing hard to this song.

One of my favorite movie scenes of all time....

Teenage Head performing in "Class of 1984". When they do the first person camera shot of Stegman entering the dance floor it gives me the same feeling I used to get as a teenager when doing the same thing, entering a concert and immediately getting swept up in the energy of it all.

Vintage High Times Scan: The Hashish Club

This is an article I scanned in from an old copy of High Times magazine. I think the front page is especially cool looking.

HC Toy Drive 2010 The Killer. HarmsxWay December 10th@Beat Kitchen

This is an important show for a lot of people with a killer (pun intended) lineup....I know it's been long time since The Killer has played Chicago. Come out, bring a toy, see some awesome bands while supporting a good cause!

Just dropped some acid.

Blotter is on my tongue as I type this. This should be fun.

Smoke a bowl to this.....

I am.

Me and My Buddy

G Funk

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg-Deep Cover (Pretty sure this is Snoop's first cameo on a track)

Download the track here:
Click Here to Download "Deep Cover" by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg

Here's a special little treat for the Night Owl faithful (Thanks to poster: AmazingFaceRape on Bridge9.com) . It's a mix of unreleased Dr. Dre tracks that were supposed to be on the original Chronic album but for some reason didn't make the cut. There is also awesome laternate takes on some of the best Dre songs, a really cool mix overall.

Click Here to Download Dr. Dre Unreleased Chronic Mix

The Beatnuts

For those of you who liked the Summer song I posted, here's the rest of the album:

The Beatnuts-Street Level
http://www.mediafire.com/?vekujmdvjjd

Definitely in my top 5 favorite rap albums.

Tolbiac's Toads 1983-1987 LP

Fast and Furious French Oi
http://www.mediafire.com/?jzuzjyhtl3z

Summer Music.......

.......because it's getting cold out.

Sunday Morning

Chicago Hardcore Shows of the Past: Outbreak, Wake Up Call, Catburglars and Always Aware at Galaxie in Chicago, IL

I've been in the habit lately of reviewing old shows that for some reason or another, stand out in my mind. They usually involve some kind of strange situation...strange venue, strange people etc. Here's what I remember from this one. I've always been in the habit of going to shows by myself. I live out in the western suburbs of Chicago, and there's no hardcore kids (or punk rock kids even), so I usually drive out to venues in the city. On the way I'll smoke a joint or two, blast some music, and hype myself up for the show a little bit. Galaxie is an art co-op that use to have hardcore shows on the regular, I say used to because I recently found out they're not booking punk gigs anymore...bummer). I parked my car around the corner from the venue, and started walking towards the front entrance. Halfway there through this alley sort of street, I see my friend Mike Conway drinking beers behind a dumpster with a few people. I think Matt Bremer was there and Luca the Catburglar's drummer as well, along with a few others. Standing there with them is this sketchy looking dude with a shaved head and shitty homemade tattoos all over. He turns to the right and he has a big swastika tattooed on his neck, It was in the middle of a circle with a line through it, which was obviously after the fact. Just think though, imagine the way people would treat you if you walked down the street with a BIG bold swazi on your neck. That guy's life must have been/be a living hell. So he starts talking in a rapid fire tweaker's patois. He said he was from California......Orange County to be exact (Big surprise there haha). He starts rambling on about how good the weed is back in California and asked if anyone wanted to match him. Not having any valuables in sight in my car at the time and thinking I might get a good story out of this (either a good story or a slit throat resulting from my new friend's amphetamine psychosis), I finished the beer I was drinking and invited him to come to the car and smoke a bowl. I packed some really good dro and we passed the pipe back and forth. He kept going on and on about how cool California is and "Cali buds" and this and that. So we finished the bowl I packed and he pulls some of the illustrious "Cali buds" he's been fixated upon......fucking regs dude. Not even good regs, just straight up nasty shit. I laughed to myself, I wasn't expecting much and he didn't let me down.

So me and swazi....er I'm sorry anti-swazi guy walk back to the show. At the soonest possible moment I ditched anti-swazi man....he was starting to give me the creeps. I went inside as the first band Always Aware started playing. This is the band that pretty much morphed into Thought Crusade, a good move on their part because TC is way better than AA was. I remember them playing pretty loose and sloppy and Ben the lead singer's face getting really red. The Catburglars were up next. I like how whoever booked the show threw them on the bill too even though they're kind of out of place playing an all ages diy hardcore show. They usually play bars and 18 and up joints. I enjoy mixed bills though so I was hapy to catch their set. Anti-Swazi man and his little buddy started a two man push pit to show us what it was like "back in the day", I had a very hard time keeping a straight face. The 'burglars played a good rockin' set, with Mike being particularly snotty with the vocals that night, maybe to try to provoke the hardcore kids.....who knows? Wake Up Call was next. To me they're kind of like one of those flash in a pan bands that puts out 1 LP and is never heard from again or remembered. The live show was fairly competent, but in the scheme of things had nothing that really made it stand out or be memorable. I think a lot of people were outside hangin' out during this band.

Outbreak was up next. This was the tour for their new LP "Failure". I really liked the early Outbreak material that had kind of a raw, hungry sound. I thought this LP is where they kind of jumped the shark. They seemed to have lost their hungriness and it really came across in their live shows. Don't get me wrong, there were a good amount of kids moshing and getting into it.....but for me their set had a certain vibe to it. I got the same sort of vibe when Mental played their second to last show here in Chicago after everyone was giving them a hard time about breaking edge. The vibe told me that this would be their last tour or close to it. The energy just wasn't the same anymore. Outbreak is one of the first modern hardcore shows I went to and seeing them when they first started out then seeing them on the Failure tour was like night and day. When they finished up I think I went to go get some food with friends, Little Ceasar's if I remember correctly. I then drove home, smoking a bowl on the way and reflecting on the show and my day in general. A good time overall even though I was a little dissapointed with Outbreak. There's always the next show................

The Big Takeover Zine #2 (Classic NYC Punk/HC Zine)

I've been looking for this everywhere and am stoked that I finally found it the other day while cleaning my room. This is the last issue of my Big Takeover collection, and also one of the most interesting. The zine focuses on the punk/power-pop/pre-hardcore band The Stimulators, are known mostly for their anthemic punk song "Loud Fast Rules" and their 12 year old drummer Harley Flanagan who grew into one of the most infamous characters of the NYHC scene, and was one of the founding members of The Cro Mags. This issue provides an interesting perspective and cool insight into a Stimulators show at Max's Kansas City in NY, including a passage on the authors observations of early forms of slam-dancing/moshing. The scene at the point was transitioning from punk rock to hardcore, and this is the period where people stopped pogoing and started dancing harder and in a different style. From what I understand, these are original issues and are pretty goddamn rare. Enjoy:

Chicago Hardcore Shows of the Past: Pulling Teeth and Harms Way at the KOC in Arlington Heights

Drove out to Arlington Heights for this one. I don't remember much. Enjoy the Massacre was really bad, and I was at the bar during Iron Will's set. This was one of Harms Way's relatively early shows and it was back when James the vocalist was still literally dropkicking people and violently windmilling himself into crowds of people during their set. This was also before they went Death Metal and were still pretty much a pure Powerviolence band. Here's some pics of HxW's set, including a couple where James is in the middle of abusing the audience.




Pulling Teeth was up next and it seems as if a lot of people left before they went on. I remember barely anyone was moshing, and few people singing along, though this did not deter the band from putting on a good show. They did their thing despite a decided lack of enthusiasm from the crowd. Here's some pics I took of their set:




...........all in all a fun evening out on the town. Kind of a quiet show but good times were had by all who attended,

The Ronettes Biography (and Discography)

One of the best and most influential Girl Vocal Groups of the early 60's. Backed by Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" Production, The Ronette's music sounds just as great today as it sounded back then. Check out this cool biography and discography scanned in from Bim Bam Boom Magazine #13:

Click here to download The Best of the Ronettes:
http://www.mediafire.com/?nzsgm0hm20n

Sick Shit

This sounds like Sonic The Hedgehog getting chainsawed to death.

Old Repos Flyer

I stumbled upon this while cleaning out my room. Didn't attend this show, did you?

Chicago Metal Shows of the Past: M.O.D. at The Buzzbomb Cafe, Bedford Park, IL

Another weird sort of show. The venue was supposed to be this huge deal....everyone was talking about the new all-ages venue in town. I remember the buzz first started when it was announced that Oxblood was playing there. At the time the venue was completely unknown and everyone was speculating what this new buzzbomb place was all about. All bets were on the fact that the show was going to be a bloodbath no matter where it was held. Too many different factions of Chicago skins showing up meant that something was bound to kick off. So when the show happened and a 15 person brawl broke out, nobody was really surprised. I saw a guy get knocked senseless with a barstool to the head about 3 feet away from me. I don't even know what it was over, pretty sure someone bumped into someone else in the pit the wrong way and things escalated from there. The testosterone level in that room was already off the charts.

So after the Oxblood show, the venue was quiet for awhile. I can't remember for sure whether this MOD show was before or after the Oxblood show, I want to say after. Anyways, it was a weird kind of show. Underage thrashers Diamond Plate put on a solid set as they usually do. These kids are like 15 years old and already play guitar better than you ever will. The audience was mostly mexican metalheads, nazis, and other assorted scumbags (including myself). Vicious Attack, my friend John's band played a decent set. Nothing remarkable, but for sure one of the better bands that played that night.....along with Infinite Missiles, another band that plays straight up party thrash that sounds pretty good. There were also a couple shitty random metal bands that played, which were so bad that I won't even talk about them anymore in this review. MOD played all thier more well known songs, and the song "bubble butt" literally about 30 times. The highlight of the show was when Billy Milano singled out this well known fat retarded looking nazi and called up on stage and proceeded to tell the audience that he was a dead ringer for Sloth from the Goonies. The look on nazi fatfuck's face was priceless. Overall MOD was mildly entertaining, I'm glad I saw em once, but after that it's not really worth shelling out money to see the modern day version of their band play unremarkable versions of SOD and MOD classics.

Little Richard Biography

The impact Little Richard has had on popular and not so popular music is immeasurable. He brought a heaping dose of style, attitude, androgyny, and his own particular brand of infectious madness to the world of Rock and Roll which was still in it's infancy at the time. He had a punk rock attitude before punk rock even existed, and cranked out some of the most uproaringly raucous tunes in history. I scanned in a cool little biography article from an old R&B fanzine called "Bim Bam Boom". If you're a fan of Little Richard like me or just want to read something about a true American musical legend check this out, also notice the Greg Shaw/Bomp ad on the second page of text:

(Almost) 20 Questions with John Caution; Vocalist of Weekend Nachos

The dudes from Weekend Nachos just got back from their first European Tour. I was curious as to how the tour went and had some other questions so I got in touch with John Caution the vocalist of WN and sent him the following interview questions. There's a copy of the tour schedule down below as well.




1. How would you say Weekend Nachos has progressed as a band since the days of the torture ep? Would you say your current sound is markedly different than in the early days of the band?

We've definitely progressed on our recordings...but it's very hard to say that our current sound is any different than it was in 2004 because we still play tons and tons of older stuff live, and we still go off hard and play everything as fast and furious as we ever did. On our later records, there's definitely a maturity in sound, but there's also plenty of elements from our earlier material that are still present. i wouldn't say that we have a current sound because it's always changing on the records, but really it's all about the live show for me, and aside from being better and tighter, we are the same live band that we were when the Torture E.P. came out.

2.Explain "Suburban Powerviolence" to me. How did you come up with that descriptive term for your band?

Haha, i certainly did not come up with that term, some queen on the B9 board did. i considered ourselves a powerviolence band for about 2 seconds in the very beginning cuz i wanted to accurately describe what we sounded like. once the entire rest of the scene started claiming that label, i stopped. we don't associate ourselves with anybody, let alone a bunch of trendy retards.

3. Is Weekend Nachos an overtly straight edge band, or do you guys keep it seperate from it?

Weekend Nachos is not, and never has been, a straight edge band. If you or anybody else must know, i adhere to the straight edge lifestyle but do not care about it one way or another. i don't associate myself with the label because it's not something i take pride in anymore, i just do not care. the whole thing is a crutch just like any other drug or religion. No one wants to realize that, but it's the harsh truth. i needed it when i was 17, figuring myself out and desperate to identify with something...10 years later i just don't need it anymore. i am who i am. no label can or ever will change that.

4. Do you feel that straight edge is on the decline in the Chicago/Midwest scene? I understand that some of our scene's elder statesmen have lost interest or moved on lately, does that bum you out or affect you in any way?

Well considering i am sorta one of those people...no, it doesn't bum me out or affect me at all, if anything i've grown to understand it better. People fucking change. I personally do not participate in using drugs or drinking, it's not something i'm into, but who am i to judge anybody for feeling differently or deciding that they feel differently at any point in their life? if you really think any of your friends are "in it til the end" with you, you've got a big shit-storm of reality coming your way later in life. People change, people feel differently, and that's their right as human beings. Straight edge is not on the decline in the Midwest, though....on the contrary, it's still alive and well. There will always be younger kids keeping that shit going in Chicago, i think, for better or worse. I'm not into it, the only thing kids at shows ever want to talk about these days is "straight edge" and they're all in packs now. Hitler youth? Christian mindset? you decide.

5. On Al Quint's blog, he described Weekend Nachos as sounding like "Murdercore" do you like that term/think it's accurate?

i don't really have a problem with that term, although it does sound pretty cheesy. i think it is accurate though...most of our songs are about wanting to kill people. it's tough though cuz some bands actually DO kill people. we're not a bunch of hardasses or gang bangers or anything, we're just trying to spit some rage and express some hate. i guess as long as you don't take it too literally, "murdercore" is backed.

13. I saw an ad for the tour overseas on a riotfest.com buletin website, what's your opinion of Riotfest/Rose Red Productions, i understand they're kind of a controversial topic in the chicago punk scene.

I don't know anything about Rose Red Productions, but i don't dig Riot Fest just like i don't dig any other big show or fest that caters to mall punks. I don't want to go into it too deeply cuz i really don't care much either way. I wouldn't go to that show just like i wouldn't go see Anti-flag or go to a Warped Tour at the United Center. If that's what someone else is into, then that's awesome. I'm sure they think i'm wasting my time watching The Repos play 8 minutes once every 2 years in a basement to 50 people. To me, that's an experience that i can't describe with words. To them, it's nothing. I can understand why they feel that way. Everybody have fun.


6. How did the whole European tour come about? Did someone ask you to do it? Did you set up the dates yourself? etc.

We have been invited many times over the last 6 years, i think we got invited out there within our first year as a band...but we knew it was a good idea to wait until we got ourselves established. 6 years later, it finally happened after a few failures along the way, shit just wasn't coming together until recently. Stephan from German grind band Wojczech is the person who booked the whole thing for me, minus a date or two that i set up myself. basically, he and i were introduced by our mutual friend, Sandro of RSR, and we corresponded via email and set the whole thing up together. very DIY. it ended up being incredible.

7. What was your favorite country/show out of all the European dates and why?

That's very tough to say, but i think our best shows were in Holland and the UK. we played a grindcore fest in Eindhoven, NL and that was probably the most people we played to on the whole tour, probably about 200 or so, maybe more actually! then in London and Leeds, both of those UK shows were fucking packed and kids went ape shit. singing along, moshing, etc. it was very shocking and incredible to see. as far as what country i liked the best aside from the touring aspect, those memories belong to me and if any of you want to know what it's like, save up some money and experience it yourself. it was great.

8. What kind of venues were you playing in? When I think of shows overseas I think of lots of shows held in squats and shit like that....is that accurate to any degree?

It's accurate to some degree...however, we played quite a handful of shows that were in very nice, reasonably clean places. a lot of them were bars actually, but not like shitty dive bars in the U.S., in fact i didn't see a single one of those while we were in Europe. if we weren't playing a squat or an abandoned school building, we were playing in a community center or an old fashioned pub.

9. There's been videos circulating of some of the euro dates and lots of people have commented on the Euros being horrible moshers.....can you confirm or deny this?

Not in the UK or Scandinavia, actually. at most of those shows, the moshing and crowd reactions were very similar to those here in the States. however, in the mainland people don't really mosh poorly, but they just don't mosh, period. it's a lot more common in those areas for people to just stand and watch the band, even if they are into it. we played a lot of shows where people were definitely stoked and into us but just not punching any of their friends. no complaints though.

10. Worst date on the Euro tour and why?

Every show was great in its own way. the PA wasn't working very well in Malmo, Sweden but there was still a great turnout and we met a lot of great people there, so i can't even consider that to be a bad show. i would be a foolish prick to say one negative thing about any of the shows. we were either very lucky or we got what we deserved for our hard work...but regardless, all of the shows were wonderful.

11. What kind of an audience came out for your shows, did it vary from country to country?

Mostly grindcore enthusiasts and crust punks...but every now and then you'd see your typical B9 hardcore kid. I felt like it was very similar to how it was in the U.S. when we play shows. A lot of different types of punks are into Weekend Nachos, it's pretty sweet. In Scandinavia and the UK, there were a lot more clean cut looking hardcore kids at the shows, i will say. Basically a good mix all around.

12. Any fights at the shows over there, or did everyone get along? How rowdy were the shows?

Not a single fight anywhere, which was cool. Some of the shows got pretty rowdy...which is always nice to see, cuz W.N. always brings that out in people. However, there really was not a lot of ignorance or hostility going around like you see at a lot of U.S. hardcore shows. Now, depending on my mood, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes i like for their to be a hostile vibe at our shows. But i'm always glad when there isn't a fight. You pay 8 dollars or euros to see a show, the last thing you want to do is spend your night feeling shittier than you did when you left the house.

14. How was the food in Europe? Any highlights? Lowlights?

Food in Europe was plentiful but i personally did not really like it. Everybody was so nice and generous and when i'm hungry, i will quietly eat what i'm given and i will say please and thank you and act like a gentleman when i'm being taken care. I have so much respect for everybody that fed us while we were there. The food was okay...but i have my own specific tastes and from this experience, i personally prefer food in the United States. From my understanding, the rest of my band loved everything we ate and couldn't get enough of it, so that's awesome. Fact of the matter is, you rarely get fed at shows in the U.S. and in Europe, you get fed at EVERY show. Therefore, no complaints. It was righteous.

15. Were the bands you played with any good?

Aside from the two bands that we made everlasting friendships with and received the honor of watching every single night of tour, WOJCZECH and CYNESS, both from Germany....we played with a lot of generic grindcore bands that i personally did not care for. Occasionally, we played with a band that fucking blew me away. There are a few i could name but just so no one feels too left out, i will only discuss one of them at this time. THE AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN from Leeds were one of the most fun live bands i've ever seen in my life. They were untouchable and some of the nicest dudes i've ever met in my life. Definitely check them out if you ever can. They rage so hard and we got to see them 4 times on our tour, which was such a pleasure. Okay, i'm gonna namedrop Xharold shitmanX from Scotland, too. those dudes were fucking awesome too. I was so stoked to play with them and they did not disappoint. great dudes, too.

16. Any trends over there in the HC scene that are different from over here?

Not really any that i noticed, no...unless being nice is a trend over there. if there was one thing i noticed there, the social aspect of the scenes there were a lot less cliquey and people didn't seem to be staring you down or sticking up their noses as much. Obviously, this is a reason the European hardcore scenes are far superior to those in the U.S. People were just way nicer and way more real, seemingly. Maybe it's because of the culture barriers, and i just couldn't notice it the same way that i do when i'm home. i'm open to that possibility, not trying to make any generalizations here.

17. Were you generally well received over there?

Yes, absolutely. At every show we played, the general vibe was that everybody there was pretty excited to be watching us. When i think about the fact that i was all the way across an entire ocean and people still cared about my band...it blows my mind.

18. What foreign scene had the hottest girls? Any Weekend Nachos groupies?

For me, i saw more babes in the UK than anywhere else. they were just everywhere. i think the other guys (and most people in general) will disagree with me and they'll say Scandinavia was where they saw the most attractive women. but i didn't notice anybody too spectacular there, it was sort of a let down (straight edge). i like thicker women though...and everybody says that women are bigger in England cuz they eat as shitty as we do here in the U.S. Why anybody would ever complain about that is beyond me. Pussies! I'll take an English speaking fattie over an anorexic Fraulein any day.

19. Did most everyone speak english? Was it hard to communicate with people?

Almost everybody spoke english, which was great!!! it was very very easy to communicate with people in Europe, basically the entire time. Hungary seemed to have a few people that had some trouble though, i noticed.


Weekend Nachos Euro Tour 2010

Oct 1 2010 6:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Potsdam, ., GERMANY
Oct 2 2010 6:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Eindhoven, ., NETHERLANDS
Oct 3 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Gent, ., BELGIUM
Oct 4 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Mulheim, ., GERMANY
Oct 5 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Leipzig, ., GERMANY
Oct 6 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Budapest, ., HUNGARY
Oct 7 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Ziar Nad Hronom, ., SLOVAKIA (Slovak Republic)
Oct 8 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Ziar Nad Zazavou, ., CZECH REPUBLIC
Oct 9 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Prague, ., CZECH REPUBLIC
Oct 10 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Hamburg, ., GERMANY
Oct 11 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Aalborg, ., DENMARK
Oct 12 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Oslo, ., NORWAY
Oct 13 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Gothenburg, ., SWEDEN
Oct 14 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Stockholm, ., SWEDEN
Oct 15 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Malmo, ., SWEDEN
Oct 16 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Copenhagen, ., DENMARK
Oct 17 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Berlin, ., GERMANY
Oct 18 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH t.b.a., ., BELGIUM
Oct 19 2010 8:30P U.K. TOUR W/ AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN and CYNESS London, ., UNITED KINGDOM
Oct 20 2010 8:30P U.K. TOUR W/ AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN and CYNESS Nottingham, ., UNITED KINGDOM
Oct 21 2010 8:30P U.K. TOUR W/ AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN and CYNESS Edinburgh, ., UNITED KINGDOM
Oct 22 2010 8:30P U.K. TOUR W/ AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN and CYNESS Leeds, ., UNITED KINGDOM
Oct 23 2010 8:30P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH t.b.a., ., BELGIUM

Chicago Hardcore Shows of the Past: Wisdom in Chains and Convicted at Doug's RockHouse in Aurora

This was a weird show. A bit of a drive from the city, but not too far. I live in a suburb that's right in the middle of both of them so this was convenient for me. I remember making the drive out to the show and meeting Klepper in the parking lot, who was already pretty drunk. (at least by Klepper standards). Upon walking in, I saw Shane Merill and a couple dudes from the Killer and went over to say what's up. I then paid the door fee, got my wristband, etc. The first couple bands were mediocre. It was basically just a hang out for me, chilling with the rest of my friends/"hardcore acquaintances" who made the drive out. Surprisingly there was a lot of kids there, a lot of Chicago kids in particular who made the drive out to Aurora which was cool. Even the Indiana contingent was there. I hung out in the bar for a bit and had a few drinks with Klepper.

To be honest, I don't really remember much of Convicted's set, probably because I went out to the car, smoked some killer buds and ended up getting blasted. Walking back up to the venue I saw my friend Jason, this pseudo skinhead dude who's a cool guy, but only comes out when Wisdom in Chains plays. Either them or Deals Gone Bad, which I always give him lots of shit for. So Wisdom in Chains starts playing. Pretty much everyone stuck around to watch them and there ended up being a good number of kids going off for them. I wasn't in much of a moshing kind of mood so I stood in the mid/back and watched the spectacle. They were playing all their good songs, the crowd was getting into it, etc. All of a sudden a scuffle breaks out between the singer of a well known Chicago Hardcore band and some other guy. I had to push the other guy off me and back into the fight because he got all in my shit. So I guess a bouncer ended up getting involved and getting beat up by said vocalist. I think WIC kept playing through all this with a few exhortations from Mad Joe Black (the vocalist of WIC) for people to calm down. Wisely, the victor of the altercation took off right away. I say wisely because a bunch of police showed up 5 minutes later and basically shut down the show. They were questioning everyone within reach and everyone kept their mouth shut....the way it should be. So yea, the show ended up getting shut down and I had to call it an early night. Still had a good time though. Wisdom in Chains always delivers the goods, even in half of a set.

Owl Style v.2

Here's a wooden owl, assumably hand carved and made in Japan (there's a little sticker on the back that says so). I scored it next door at a neighbor's garage sale for 50 cents. I collect stuff like this....anything Owl related (my "totem animal").

Pagan Youth Demo Review

This is a cool 3 song demo I picked up at the Albion House Halloween Show last Friday. The drummer is a cool dude named Nick Donahue, who's really ace in my book. I'm not close to him, I don't even know him that well at all but I'll randomly run into him at a show or a party like once a year and every time he has a big smile on his face and acts like he's happy to see me. Legit dude. He once had a vegan straight edge cupcake party at his apartment which I kind of crashed with someone who was friends with me at the time. I was kind of being "that dude" even though I knew a lot of the people there. We came bursting in high as shit, said our what's ups, and start passing a pint of whiskey back and forth while watching others play ninja turtle video games in the front room. We were the only non-edge people there and I noticed a few people give each other nervous glances presumedly directed towards us. I also may or may not have blown a line in his bathroom.

Anyways, I'm not reviewing Nick Donahue, just the band in which he drums for. Pagan Youth play fresh sounding power pop with catchy guitar hooks and lots of melody all around. The vocalist really did a good job on these tracks, dude has a really good voice and it shows. If you want band comparisons, I'd say that they sound kind of like a cross between The Jam andThe Buzzcocks, though even a bit more poppy and not nearly as aggressive as those bands. The first song "I Don't Believe" is the strongest effort on their demo in my opinion. There's a bouncy sort of quality to the track, and there are hooks aplenty with good drumming to boot. The singer is sounding great and the overall song structure works out good for them. "You're Never the One You Want" is slightly repetitive, but doesn't detract from anything and is still worth a listen. The demo closes out with "Comfort" in which the vocals are a highlight. dude really puts his range on display for this one. I like the fact that people are still interested in playing good, solid power pop (especially locally), though I wonder whether Pagan Youth would describe themselves as Power Pop or as a straight up Rock and Roll band? Im interested in seeing what direction they'll take with the band. Hopefully there'll be some more choice cuts for us to enjoy in the near future. In the mean time, this will be staying in my CD player.

Paraphernalia

As some of you are aware, High Times used to cover a lot more than just pot. Cocaine was blowing up and in the pages of HT magazine you could find a plethora of ornate coke paraphernalia along with all kinds of crazy weed related contraptions as well. The full page ads used to actually look cool and interesting instead of when they've degenerated into now.....basically full color catalogs for fake weed and detox drinks.




Honest Heat: Need to check the purity of a kilo of cocaine? Use one of these bad boys. I'm sure the Cartel henchmen won't mind when you break out your little melty machine and go to town on a bag of their coke.



Mannite: The choice cutting agent for the discerning cocaine dealer.



2 for 1: We have here gold and platinum razor blades for cutting up lines, "the only materials that won't degrade your substance". Also, another weird cutting agent for coke.



Airbrushed Pot Shirts: If it's good enough for the guy with the humongous mullet, it's good enough for me. I'd rock the shit out of one of these haha.



Shit to Gold: This is supposed to be an "isomerizor" a machine that increases the potency of your pot. For some reason, I can't see this thing performing any miracles in fact, when I look at this I think of all the potentially ruined stashes that came out through this. If it was the miracle machine it's advertised to be, you'd be seeing a lot more of this type of stuff today. Has anyone even heard of an isomerizor nowadays?

Rap Music in 2010

I used to be really into Rap/Hiphop when I was younger. I'd read The Source and XXL and check out the hungry new MC's on the scene. Back then even the mainstream stuff was fairly solid, you might've had a track geared towards more of a commercial audience, but the beat would still be dope and the hook good enough to get stuck in your head. Somewhere down the line, the new records that were coming out were getting increasingly wack, and slowly but surely the rap industry has dumbed itself down to depths seemed previously unthinkable which is about the time that I lost interest in keeping up with new faces in the Rap game. I've made some observations, and have come to the conclusion that 95% of new Rap joints that come out follow the formula of:

1. Colors or Combinations of Colors: ("Black and Yellow, Black and Yellow x infinity") ("My all-white ____") (My all-black ____")
This might've been ok if just one or two rappers made songs like this, but EVERY MOTHERFUCKER IN THE GAME has one. MC's....stop dick riding and come up with your own concepts instead of trying to emulate the lowest common denominator of radio friendly bullshit.

2. Independent Women: ("She got her own house, her own car....") (She got this.....she got that.....she makes her own money, pays her own bills etc.) Uggghhhhhh. Same thing as above, EVERY motherfucking rapper on the block has a song about Independent women doing independent things. Wow she has her own car and pays her own bills. That's a fucking revelation if I've ever heard one.

3. Retarded Duggy Dance Type Shit ("Teach me how to duggy, duggy duggy duggy blah blah blah") (Do the ________ (insert stupid dance) I can't believe people are getting rich off this shit. I have no problem with light-hearted party/pop music but they're really scraping the bottom of the retard barrel with all these new dances that come out every single week.

4. Marble Mouthed MC's ("Wa me doooooooooo") At least we know if someone suffers a traumatic brain injury they can still slur and drool their way into making #1 records. This is where the dumbing down really comes into play. These motherfuckers are somehow so lazy that they can't even pronounce a two-syllable word right and have to drool it out.

5. Cars ("In my Chevy, pop the trunk and I have a gun in my Chevy blah blah blahblahblah.") ("Beemer, Benz, or Bentley, pockets never empty.") Cool dude you have a Chevy. I'm impressed, REALLY impressed. It is absolutely amazing that you drive a Chevy. My life has become richer now that I've been made aware of this information. It was kind of cool when the Lost Boyz did it in the 90's, not so much anymore.

If you're sick of the way things are now, download this......

Jay-Z: Reasonable Doubt

.......and remember when rappers (like any other artist) cared about and honed their craft, putting everything they had into the album they were working on, instead of shitting out a label-approved, lame-ass, weak-ass record which is so full of filler the artist might as well have put out a single or an EP and scrapped the rest instead of tarnishing their careers with almost entirely forgettable LP's.

Hot Food Zine 0.5 Sneak Peak

As mentioned in other blog posts, this is my friend Mike Conway's zine project. I ran into him last night at the Albion House halloween party, and he gave me permission to scan some of his work. Prior to coming out with a well done, full length zine, Mike came to a show one day and started passing these short little mini zines out to people. There are goofy comics and the story of a phantom phone dialer involved, along with some cool artwork. Speaking of cool artwork there's a picture of two fetish skins blowing each other on the back cover (real classy Mike haha). Though it came out quite a long time ago, I've always enjoyed this and the other full length Hot Food Zine #1. Check this sneak peak out for now, when I get the inclination I'll probably end up scanning the other one in.